Breaking With Tradition
by AlternativeRocker
Summary: Serena and Ric get caught in the middle of festivities on the ward much to their irritation. Will it make them feel any better towards the season or even each other?
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note:** Thank you for the response to the other couple of fics I have about these two! This takes place before everyone left but at Christmas so made up timeline fun. This will be a two part story.

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It was a week before Christmas on Keller, Serena was on the other side of the nurses' station talking with Malick, Digby and Edward. Chantelle was rushing around the ward also but she there was no concern over her festive spirit as she was permanently merry to the public.

Ric sauntered across to them - Serena was convinced he had started to put it on more than before she had mentioned it previously. Standing next to her with a medical file in his hands ready to discuss it with her they were interrupted by the others nearby trying miserably to stifle giggles.

"What are you all laughing at?" The others glanced to the roof above them. Hanging directly between them just above their heads from a piece of red ribbon was a single stalk of mistletoe.

"You must be kidding!" She exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest as she unconsciously took a step backwards.

"You were the one who wanted us to embrace the season." The glare Malick received from both consultants was colder than anything outside. What he had said was true enough as Serena had felt the patients were not quite as cheery as she wanted them to be because she believed a happier patient would heal quicker ultimately increasing productivity.

Edward chose that moment to voice his opinion on the matter, "It is tradition. Mary-Claire agreed when we got caught under it earlier."

"No! It is a piece of dead leaf matter which means nothing to me. And what you get up to in your attempt to find child bride number two does not interest me." Serena muttered angrily at her ex-husband. She hated hearing what he thought about her personal life especially when it involved Ric Griffin because Edward still believed there was more to their friendship than just being a plus one to dinners. To be honest this situation was causing her to be seriously confused as she and Ric switched too easily between playful flirting and anger that she was scared to continue down this path in case it ended badly.

While they ignored the protests from the other men, Mo Effanga appeared from Darwin to authorise a referral in person after checking the patient's condition, "Are Sic having an argument?" She asked without thinking.

"They refuse to uphold mistletoe tradition."

Ric opened his mouth, ready to state it was not her concern but Serena beat him to speech, "Because it is ridic- wait, what did you call us?!"

"It's one of your mash-up names; Serena and Ric equals Sic - the fact you are both doctors makes it even better." She trailed off near the end of the explanation as she noticed the looks that Ric and Serena both wore as they stared at her.

Serena could not muster a single word but they all felt her anger go up one notch higher, "What?" Her voice had not increased a single decibel but that made it even worse as they knew someone was in her bad books more than usual. Arthur had not said a word since the beginning of the scene and he tried to find a way to escape but Chantelle was doing perfectly well by herself that she would become suspicious if he tried to intervene on such simple tasks.

"Nothing Ms Campbell, Mr Griffin, see you later." Mo hastily rushed from the ward, planning to hide from the two consultants for as long as possible. When Serena turned back to the other men they were all trying to avoid her eyes as they concealed smirks.

Without saying another word she picked up her tablet computer and walked off, Ric following as he still had not spoken to her regarding the original matter he had went to her for. Understanding her point of view as he felt much the same he continued in silence, the staff had acted like small children but if she had been having a happier day he would put money on her agreeing to it, and admittedly he would not have complained for too long.

He was unsure whether she realised he was there until they took a few more paces and she began to rant as they neared their shared office, "I am going to fire them all... Or even better I could shift them all down to AAU and be left to run a perfectly quiet, empty ward by myself."

"So you would be transferring me too?" She did not answer, just smiled and continued on in silence as she entered the room. He caught the door before it closed since he still had to talk about the patient's obs and she would turn on him if he walked away when she was full-flow on her tirade.

"It was a bit of fun Serena."

"Oh, don't you start too! I mean, if we argue it would ruin their ideas of 'Sic'. Urgh, why on Earth did any one of them consider it appropriate to invent a name for two people who are in no way together, especially when we are their superiors? And she said it was one of the names which means they have all been consolidating their ideas on it and coming up with preferred ones."

There was a moment's pause as he stopped his eyes from rolling at how badly she was taking this, "I am not starting anything and I was on your side back there so I do not want to go to AAU, even in this hypothetical situation." Neither of them noticed that she was edging further away from him every time he took a step forward so they reached a point where they were standing on opposite sides of her desk.

"I forgot how crazy people get around this time and how many idiotic traditions there are. I mean, mistletoe, really?! Why can people not just choose who or when to kiss somebody?" She held out her hand to finally get back to work and took the folders from his hands, their fingers brushing gently which made them have to attempt ignorance from the butterflies that had suddenly appeared again in their stomachs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note: **Decided I had to get this part up before tonight's episode! Should I add another chapter or just leave it at this?

This is for the twitter group that put up with me and my excitement over this ship, you are brilliant!

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Ric heard a voice that he had not expected to hear treating a patient on the 25th December. "Now, Mr Richards, do I not clearly remember you being here for an awful lot of Christmas Day last year? There is nothing wrong with you and you know that." Serena was of course trying to clear beds without caring about a soft approach to those who were trying to gain some warmth.

As she finished writing a note on the gentleman's file she glanced up with a smile in Ric's direction, "Mr Griffin, how nice of you to make an appearance." For the seven days since the incident with the mistletoe and the charged moment in their office they had been walking on eggshells around the other and had made up various excuses to be on different wards or shifts to avoid situations like this where they were practically alone on a day in which emotions had the possibility to be at their most strained.

"I was down on AAU helping that run a bit smoother. I didn't realise you are on a shift today? I thought you would have been spending it with Eleanor."

"My name has been on the schedule for weeks."

"I thought it was a mistake."

"No, Eleanor wanted to spend Christmas with her dad which I politely refused an invitation to."

"Two consultants on for the same hours on the same ward, is that being wholly efficient?" He said as he raised an eyebrow, knowing that she could easily claim that as he was on AAU it was an advantage to be present on Keller.

'I feel like this is an interrogation; why are you here?" They were walking in step with the person next to them as they moved around the room.

Ric shrugged his shoulders slightly, "Everyone else is spending it with significant others or their closer family members so I chose to keep myself busy." Serena nodded briefly before starting a diagnosis on the patient in the closest bed to avoid having a longer conversation about how sad it was to be spending the festive season at work with members of the public who did not necessarily have to be there.

Some hours later they had failed completely in their attempt to avoid the other and not only that, they had flirted their way through every one of their interactions and could see their colleague had enjoyed it much as they had themselves. Serena had disappeared a little while ago by the sound of the silence that had engulfed Keller - somehow when she was around everyone seemed to be more on edge and therefore louder - and Ric decided it was the perfect time to go and do some paperwork on his computer.

As he neared the door Serena entered his line of vision and she actually smiled when they caught eyes. Holding the door open for her he subconsciously placed his hand on the small of her back before they split apart and stared in a comfortable quiet at the closest thing they had to a relationship who was standing a mere two steps away. Numerous minutes later her facade broke as she motioned up with her eyes, causing his to do the same. Not as neatly as it had been the previous time a sprig of mistletoe was hanging on a piece of red string.

His eyes finding hers again, he scrunched them up in confusion. Running a hand through the back of her dark hair she began to speak, "We dodged the bullet earlier this week but what if the tradition does harm those who don't abide? Maybe that is why we are having so many time-wasters today."

"I thought you were against mistletoe." Ric could not believe this was happening and that she had been the one to say such a thing.

"I was against it being on the ward - so many rules broken!" She had a natural flirty tone to her voice as it was but he had never heard it as strong before.

"It is an artificial flower making the rounds of Keller so there is not as much contamination." Serena could tell he was trying not to say too much, just to make sure she knew what she was doing to them.

"So how about it Mr Griffin? Are you wanting to join in the festive merriment which I believe should be present this evening?"

He took a step towards her, "I wouldn't want tradition to get back at a moment of rebellion."

They continued to move closer until she could feel his breath on her face, leading her to allow her eyelids to flutter shut but then nothing. Peeking out under her eyelashes she saw that he was still just gazing at her. "It's a good thing you don't keep some of your patients waiting this long!" She put emphasis on the word 'this' in her usual sarcastic tone but there was a rare softness to it as she raised as eyebrow to him.

He pressed his lips harshly against her own, if only to make her stop talking. She was taken aback for a second before her natural instinct took over and her hands found their way to the sides of his head. Pulling him closer still Serena felt his fingers on her hips to which she could not stop a smile from being in the kiss.

As their mouths broke apart they rested their foreheads together. "I think we certainly made up for our earlier lapse."

"I think you may be correct... for once," she joked as her thumb ran across his jaw.

"So who hung the mistletoe in here because I'm pretty sure we agreed to keep our office locked?" It was during that second he realised she had planned this. Even though he had listened to her prepared speech about the karma behind it, the idea of her making the effort to put this plan into action baffled him. She would never admit to it but she was a romantic deep down whilst her need for control still shone through.

She tried to put on her best coy expression, "I don't know, maybe a fairy or something."

"A very cruel fairy for making us wait all day," he said, kissing her once more.

"I'm not great at this kind of thing - we have not all been married a hundred times you know - but are you busy this evening? We could grab a takeaway en route to one of the awaiting empty homes."

"Something that Serena Campbell isn't good at - this could be fun," her mouth dropped open in mock irritation before he continued, "I would love to have a dinner with you. Is this a date?"

"A date, God how prosaic does that sound, but I suppose if you must classify it then it could be placed in to that bracket." Ric's mouth was on her neck as his hands went under the open red shirt but over the little black vest she had underneath which was making her ramble more than she ever intended to. She smiled while her arms took refuge around the back of his neck, shifting them backwards so that she had the support of a filing cabinet behind her.

When they paused the next time he asked her a question which she could truly say she had not wanted to hear in this embrace, "Should we be getting back out there soon to save the ward from Digby's control?"

"I was finally enjoying sharing an office though." She mumbled, her hand running down the front of his jacket.

"Serena, we have two hours left to work and then you get to have disgustingly unhealthy food and force me to give up my sanity in favour of spending time together outside of this place."

She straightened up her clothing that he had crushed ever so slightly, whilst he made sure there were no marks from the lipstick she was wearing on his mouth or cheek. "I am such a catch when you put it like that. By the way - if it isn't too awful of me to ask - would you mind going back to the other ward? I'm not sure if I could find enough work here for the both of us to do and even if there was then I'm not entirely confident I would not end up in here again with you and your reputation."

Ric smirked down at her before kissing her lightly on the forehead and turning to the door, "Only a couple of hours and you can take my reputation wherever you want."


	3. Chapter 3

**Note:** So, I decided due to some lovely reviews to write what happened after Ric and Serena finished their Christmas night at work. This is the final part now.

For Louise, as she is in need of a touch of fluff.

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Ric and Serena both finished later than they had hoped but not with a large gap between so although they had calmed down significantly since earlier they couldn't wait to spend time outside of Holby with the other. They had taken a while to decide about transport as they had each brought their own car that morning and did not want to get too presumptuous about what the evening may or may not lead into. Eventually Serena made up her mind that they would be going to her home and as she had a spare room in addition to Eleanor not being around, he could stay over and she would drive him back to the hospital in the morning to collect his own car. She was not as easy as her flirting made her out to be but deep down she was not entirely convinced the spare room would become useful.

When they had made the plan to get a takeout meal they had momentarily forgot it was Christmas day and although they did manage to find one Indian restaurant which was open after eight o'clock they still had to wait half an hour for the actual food to be prepared since they had not preordered it. Thankfully the place had a small wooden seat so they tried to get comfortable on it next to each other. Ric hesitated as he considered putting his arm around her, unsure if they were at that point yet; she took away the confusion by leaning against his side allowing her head to rest on his shoulder so he practically had to or else she would be sitting far too awkwardly.

When they finally unlocked her front door they couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief to be somewhere with a proper seat and without anything to truly worry about.

"Can I interest you in a drink?" Serena asked when they were in the kitchen.

"I guess there is a vast choice of wine."

"Well, I couldn't have my stock running low over the holidays. Is white okay for you, I'm not up for red tonight?" With the food they had bought the thought of a glass of heavy red wine was enough to warrant a headache.

"Yes, it's up to you. Where are the plates?" Serena told him they were in the cupboard to his left while enjoying the fact he wanted to use a plate instead of being lazy and simply eating out of the containers.

They began to empty out the various bags of foodstuffs and when getting cutlery from drawers and wine glasses from shelves they managed to bump in to and brush against each other more times than strictly necessary, to which their smiles could not be hidden and small comments about their close proximity had to be made. Serena picked out some bowls for dips and chutney from just next to his head and kissed him, their first one since back in their office several hours previous. All the feelings of lust came back to the forefront of their minds and they let themselves be swept away in the moment. Just as the kiss began to turn more serious they were interrupted by the sound of her stomach grumbling, alerting then to the fact their food would be growing cold and that they could not recall when they had last ate.

"We can pick this back up in a bit, I am starving," she hastily commented before picking up her meal and drink, knowing her face would look flustered.

He followed quickly behind her as they entered the living room and sat on a red leather sofa she had facing the flat-screen television which her and Ellie had treated themselves to the Christmas before. Serena crossed her legs and turned to face him, the plate balancing on her lap. He had one arm along the back of the chair as he looked across at her and asked a question that had been on his mind for part of the day.

"Why did you bother with the mistletoe?"

She swallowed a mouthful of wine before answering, "I was tired of playing around with you; the mistletoe itself felt appropriate after last week. And, honestly, if I had walked over to you and asked you to kiss me you would have thought I was insane." He had to admit her brain was one of the most intriguing parts of her and her reasoning was as good as any plan he could have created to have them kiss. Ric shifted closer to her - deciding they were beyond being subtle about their attraction - and trailed his fingers alongher collarbone and up her neck before they started to play with a strand of her short hair.

They talked about every topic imaginable and she opened up to him more than she had to anyone in a very long time, breaking down so many walls that she had put up around herself to protect her from falling for another human. He spoke about his children and received some of her well-practiced wit when he mentioned a couple of his ex-wives.

"Have a taste of this," he said as he lifted the fork to her mouth.

"Now that is beautiful." He wiped a drop of the sticky sauce from under her bottom lip, licking it off his thumb afterwards while they kept eye contact with the other. Their lips were almost touching again when they suddenly heard the door to her house being unlocked. Moving away from each other, Serena stood up and had nearly made it to the sitting room entrance when they heard a voice.

"Mum?" Serena knew nobody else had a key but it still took her by surprise and Eleanor beat her to this door, meaning Ric could not be hidden from the younger female.

"Ellie, I thought you were staying over, I wasn't expecting you." Kissing her daughter on the cheek she continued to try and shield her company from view but failed as Eleanor looked over her shoulder,

"Dad's place is way too small to fit another person and my phone's almost dead. Hello, Mr Griffin."

Ric shook his head in slight amusement, "Nice to see you, Eleanor, and I have told you before to call me Ric."

"Do you want some food?" Serena asked the teenager making it clear in her voice and look that even if she had ate enough to feed a small nation she was going to have to go through to the kitchen with her mum.

The kitchen door was nudged shut but before Serena got a chance to open her mouth she was asked about the situation, "_So_... You and Ric, what's the story there?" Eleanor could see how uncomfortable her mother was at this moment so made the comments as lighthearted as possible. She was actually pleased that someone had maybe began to get close to Serena.

"Nothing, we were working and both of us had nothing else to go home to." She knew she was lucky to get away with lies like that to Ric, never mind the girl who has learned every expression she could muster.

"Oh, come on mother! The heat in that room has nothing to do with the radiators being on."

"Fine, we have shared a couple of kisses, that is all." She waited for the backlash of opinions but to her shock Ellie just smiled and took a poppadom back through to where Ric was. When she joined them they were having a conversation about how her university choice was getting on while the girl searched under the tables and seats until she eventually found a phone charger that she required. The two people that now were such a part of Serena's life seemed to be great with one another which pleased her beyond words. Staying until the end of the discussion Eleanor excused herself, saying she would be going to her own room.

"I will leave you to it. Don't stay up too late; neither of you are quite as young as you once were."

Serena sat back down next to Ric and buried her head against his chest in embarrassment "I'm sorry about that. She can be a little inappropriate."

"It must be a genetic thing."

"Oi!" She smirked before shifting upwards and kissed him.

They stayed in the room for another hour or so, talking and getting used to the feel of their friend's mouth on their skin, until they had finished the bottle of wine they were on. They walked in the direction of the kitchen down the hall but she stopped him before they reached it, "Or we could move this upstairs." She hadn't meant to be quite so upfront but she could tell he would be a perfect gentleman to her unless pushed.

Lacing his fingers through her own he replied, "Your daughter is here, I should leave or at the very least go to the spare room as planned."

Pressing her lips against his in an effort to wear away all his bravado before she spoke again. "Eleanor is not a child; she knew as soon as she saw us what could potentially happen and she doesn't mind. I _want_ this tonight, Ric. It could be your Christmas present to me." It was well past midnight by this point but she decided to play the Christmas line regardless.

"Serena," he wanted this just as much as she did but the thought of her daughter being in the same house made him pause, especially knowing the rocky relationship that the two females ocassionally had. While he was mulling it over silently, she was gradually pulling them up the staircase. By the time they reached the top their mouths were back on the other's and all thoughts of waiting any longer for this disappeared.


End file.
